Being an Entrepreneur and Being Broke

One of the best things about being your own boss is that you are in control of your income. Working in a normal job usually means that dramatically increasing your income month on month is quite unlikely. By starting your own business, providing everything goes to plan, the sky is the limit.

That’s the upside, the downside is that there is no guarantee that everything will go to plan. That’s why we thought we would talk to you about something we are semi-professional at …… being broke.

It’s important to understand before you go in to business that problems with cash flow will be the first hurdle that you have to get over. On average it takes around 24 months for a business owner to be able to draw a salary from a new business. Even then it’s probably wont make Richard Branson blush.

To make your business succeed as quickly as possible and get to the point where you can pay your self a healthy wage you will likely need to put all the profits back in to the project for the first 18 months at least. Some projects that we have worked on have taken almost 3 years to reach a point that we can start seeing a share of the profits.

I think its fair to say that we both used to find this one of the most exciting parts of starting a business. Not knowing if you’re going be able to afford to pay for the container of stock you just ordered can fill you with adrenaline ……. and anxiety.

The fact that you are willing to take this risk sets you apart from 99% of the population. There is nothing wrong with being in either group, but the fact that you are reading this article probably implies that you either want to take the leap or already have.

I don’t want to just write a depressing blog post on the fact that you are almost definitely going to be tight on cash at some point. What I really want to get across is that it is definitely worth it. You may have to skip a couple of weekends going out with friends whilst you launch your startup. Hell you might have to stay in for a year and a half but at soon it will seem insignificant.

Two Schmucks is a website designed to help businesses big or small. You can find guides, tips and strategies for all stages of your business. From planning concept through to exit strategies, you can find it here.